


Conflict

by loonyloopylou



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, character death (mentioned), robert needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6601738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loonyloopylou/pseuds/loonyloopylou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And anyway, it’s not like I’m missing her.  Like I said, it’s much better here than it has been with her.”</p>
<p>“Liv would you just shut up!  Be grateful that you have the bloody chance to call her, yeah?  Some of us aren’t that lucky.”  Robert shouted, staring at her.  His comment made Liv whip her head around, looking at him like he’d gone mad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conflict

**Author's Note:**

> Liv willingly deciding to live away from her mother made me think of how Robert might be feeling as his mother isn't around.

“I’m having more fun here than I think I ever had at home with mum.” Liv said through a mouthful of toast one morning a couple of weeks after deciding to stay with Aaron in Emmerdale.

“Maybe that’s because you never seem to be in school!” Chas exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from every word. She knew that there was nothing she could do to change her attitudes. Just like Aaron in almost every way. “You know you’ll have to start going again regularly soon, you can’t afford to let everything drop, Liv.”

“I’m going today, aren’t I? It’s just nice to spend time with my big brother!” Liv smiled at Aaron as he looked at her with adoring eyes. Robert sighed. She had Aaron wrapped so tightly around her little finger.

It had been like this since she moved in. They still hadn’t gone away for their weekend in Barcelona, despite the heavy hints Robert had been dropping since he’d had to postpone their trip and they’d barely had any time alone since Liv dropped pretty permanently into their lives. He’d had one of the quietest 30ths anyone could ever have, with half of people not even remembering.

“Remember that your mum wants you to give her a call today, she rang yesterday and was disappointed that you were up at the scrap yard.” Chas reminded her, seemingly for the hundredth time.

“Yeah yeah…” Liv replied, playing some game on her phone. Robert didn’t know how he was going to cope seeing her around permanently. Spending the past three weeks with her in his life was already making him old before his time.

“Look, Liv, it’s not hard. Just call her tonight, yeah?” Robert snapped.

“Alright Rob, no need to have a go.”

“Yeah _Rob_ it’s not like _you’re_ my mum or anything, just leave it.” Liv cut in. God, she annoyed Robert so much sometimes. “And anyway, it’s not like I’m missing her. Like I said, it’s much better here than it has been with her.”

“Liv would you just shut up! Be grateful that you have the bloody chance to call her, yeah? Some of us aren’t that lucky.” Robert shouted, staring at her. His comment made Liv whip her head around, looking at him like he’d gone mad.

“Rob…” Aaron sighed. He should have known where all this was going. Robert either hadn’t heard him, or ignored him completely, as he took one last look at Liv and left the room. “Robert!” Aaron jumped up from his place at the table, before sitting back down with a sigh.

“Aren’t you going after him?” Chas asked, incredulously. She couldn’t have been the only one to notice the look on Robert’s face.

“I have to take her to school, don’t I? You were just kicking off about her not going…” Chas gave him a look, which shut him up. She jerked her head towards the kitchen and Aaron got up to follow her.

“He was upset, you must have noticed…” She whispered, sneaking a look at Liv to make sure she wasn’t listening, or doing anything else that she wasn’t supposed to be doing. “Look, I’ll take Liv to school this morning, you just go find Robert and talk to him. You don’t seem to have had much of a chance over the past couple of weeks.” Aaron nodded, knowing that going after Robert was the thing he should have done the minute he saw that he was upset. He stepped behind Liv and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Mum’s going to take you to school today, alright? I’ll see you this afternoon when you get back, yeah?”

“Why aren’t you taking me?” Liv asked petulantly, craning her head around to look at her brother.

“Because you’ve-”, Chas coughed pointedly, “okay, _we’ve_ managed to upset Robert, and I should go after him to see if he’s alright.” Aaron explained.

“Ugh, fine. Some big brother you’re turning out to be.” Liv stormed out grabbing her school bag as she went, as Aaron looked helplessly at his mother.

“Leave her to me, love, I’ll talk to her.”

 

\----------

 

When Chas stepped out of the pub, Liv was looking stormily through the window of the locked car. Chas unlocked the doors and Liv opened the door as violently as she could and threw herself into the now unlocked car, slamming the door as she went.

“Hey careful!” Chas called out in vein, knowing that if Liv was anything like her brother, the reprimand would go straight over her head. Chas got in and started the car, pulling out of the village and onto the country roads heading to York. Liv had yet to say a word since leaving the kitchen. Chas sighed.

“Look, this has nothing to do with Aaron not wanting to drive you to school…” she explained, hoping that Liv wouldn’t hold this against her son.

“I know that, I just don’t understand why Robert’s so grumpy all the time anyway…”

“You must know that his mum died, Liv. I’m sure it’s been mentioned.”

“But that was ages ago…”

“He was around the same age as you are now when his mum died in that fire, and I think he misses her much more than he ever lets on. So can you just be sympathetic and understand that to him it looks as though you’re throwing away something that he hasn’t had the chance to have in a very long time.”

The drive to York was very quiet after that.  Just Chas concentrating on the road ahead of her and Liv sat quietly staring out of the window at the passing countryside.

 

\----------

 

Aaron left through the front of the pub, expecting to have to track Robert down, only to see him leaning against the windowsill. His head was down and his shoulders were hunched from the still cold breeze lingering on the spring morning.

“Are you alright?” Aaron asked, softly touching the side of Robert’s arm. Robert sniffed and looked up in shock at the touch, not having heard Aaron creeping up on him.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I just don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what?”

“How she doesn’t-” he stopped and took a deep, shuddering breath, “how she can be so careless. How can she just not care? How can she not want to see her own mother? I know things between them weren’t perfect but she’s her mum, Aaron!” he cried.

“She is just a kid, Robert, and this is all new. It hasn’t been a month yet, I’m sure the novelty of being away from her mum will wear off and she’ll miss her a bit more, make more of an effort to call her.”

“She just doesn’t realise that she’s lucky to have the chance. I wish I did.” He added under his breath, clearly not fully meaning for Aaron to hear him.

“Hey, come here.” Aaron said, as he wrapped his arms around a now shaking Robert. “It’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to miss her.”

“I know, it’s just-” he sniffed, burying his head into Aaron’s shoulder, “it hits you sometimes, you know? Just remembering everything, however hard I try to put it behind me…” he sobbed, holding on to Aaron tighter, which Aaron returned.

“Hey,” Aaron whispered, pulling away from the embrace just enough to place a soft kiss to the top of Robert’s head. “Why don’t we go back inside? Mum and Liv have gone off to York, it’s still early so there’s no one else in the pub. We could put a film on, one of those geeky ones you like, yeah?”  Robert huffed a laugh.

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Robert breathed, clinging on to Aaron for a couple of seconds longer. “Thanks.” He smiled a watery smile, and Aaron leaned in to kiss him softly.

“You don’t need to thank me, Rob,” he smiled. “Isn’t this what boyfriends do for each other?”

Robert smiled a smile closer to that of his usual grin. He liked the sound of that. Boyfriends.

“Come on,” Aaron tugged on his hand to pull him back into the warmth of the pub, intertwining their fingers as they walked through the door.


End file.
